When Shamika Patterson moved from Atlanta to eastern Iowa for a job, she didn't know where or who to turn to outside of her family.

Though her job as a faculty human resources coordinator for the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa brought her in contact with many people, she didn't see or know many women like her, a woman of color, at the office.

A Facebook group that organized get-togethers at the beginning of 2016 has evolved into a nonprofit with over 400 active members and organizes monthly events that aim to unite women of color throughout the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids areas and beyond.

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LaTash DeLoach is shown during a rally against police brutality in Iowa City on June 14, 2016. David Srcivner/Press-Citizen(Photo: David Scrivner / Iowa City Press-Citizen)

“Instead of it just being one person creating community, we’re creating a community for you to join without you doing all the labor," LaTash DeLoach, the group's co-founder with RaQuisha Harrington, said.

The goal of Sankofa, which is a Ghanaian word roughly meaning "go back, look for and gain wisdom, power and hope," is simple: "Making Johnson County more livable for women of color,” DeLoach said, sitting inside Old Brick next to Patterson and Tanika Moreland, an original member of the group. Sankofa is open to all women, DeLoach said, but the group emphasizes celebrating and helping women of color, especially black women.

Two years after it began, the group has hosted a health fair, organized numerous social events and created an award ceremony to honor a member of the community, the Juneteenth Trailblazer Awards.

For Moreland, a lab technician in the pathology department of the UI Hospitals and Clinics, Sankofa creates a community she said she lost after graduating from UI.

Born and raised in Fort Dodge and spending most of her life in Iowa, Moreland said she wasn't shocked when she found that Iowa City "didn't have a lot of black people" but that her college friends were. She remembered them meeting regularly in the Iowa Memorial Union, but after graduation, most of them left "and there was nothing," she said.

“It’s so nice to have someone you can relate to,” Moreland said.

The logo for Sankofa Outreach Connection. Created by LeTasha DeLoach.(Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)

That's in large part why Sankofa was created: the lack of connection between adult women of color in the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids areas. Harrington and DeLoach have organized numerous programs and events for girls of color throughout the years in Iowa City. Once those girls turned 18, though, there wasn't anything keeping them together.

"We needed to provide something for them as adults or they might become disconnected," DeLoach said.

The group's first event was unofficial and impromptu. DeLoach created a Facebook event inviting friends to join her for dinner at what is now ReUnion Brewery in Coralville. "I thought 15 friends would maybe come just to make sure I wasn't alone," DeLoach said.

About 80 women of color ended up showing up.

“It was a really beautiful day," DeLoach said.

People began to ask her to start a social media page to help organize future events. That lead to Sankofa becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit because people told DeLoach they'd donate money to the group to fund more events and programs.

A cooking class organized by Sankofa is shown.(Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)

It didn't take long for the group and its gatherings to make an impact on its members.

Moreland said because she is one five women of color in her office, and the only African-American — an issue DeLoach and Petterson can relate to — Sankofa quickly became a place to find people going through similar situations.

"Since I’m the only African-American woman in the lab, there’s a lot of things that this current political environment has brought to the forefront, race-wise. Having this group to come back to is just great," Moreland said, adding that she's met African-American women who work at UIHC through Sankofa. A simple lunch date with someone she met through the group can make all the difference in the tenor of a day at work, she said.

Since forming, DeLoach said that the organization has grown slowly but steadily. "We can grow into whatever we want to be."

So far, the group has organized a bevy of events for its members. DeLoach said not every single member ever shows up to one event. ("If 400 women showed up together in Iowa City, it would have made the news," DeLoach said.) Still, members have taken in screenings of the Oscar-nominated movie "Hidden Figures" about Africa-American mathematicians who helped shape the early days of NASA. They've had kickboxing classes together. They've even taken juicing classes together.

Moreland's favorite event so far was the 2017 Juneteenth Trailblazers Awards ceremony. Organized in unison with Iowa City's annual Juneteenth celebration, the evening featured awards handed out to Monique Green, UIHC employee and member of the community police review board in Iowa City; Kendra Malone, UI's diversity resources coordinator; and also honored the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa.

The awards are given to unsung women or groups in the community that have made a difference through advocacy or activism.

Kendra Malone and Monique Green are shown at Sankofa's Juneteenth Trailblazers Awards on June 24, 2017.(Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)

Patterson's favorite moment as a part of Sankofa was the Power In Wellness Health Fair in December at the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center in Iowa City. The fair featured massages, health screenings, healthy snacks and even a hip-hop workout that got men, women, police officers and firefighters on their feet, dancing.

For DeLoach, it's the less formal events: the dinner and movie nights where members grab a bite to eat, go see "Girl's Trip" and have a laugh-riddled time that makes members "forget how stressed they were."

In these racially charged times where President Donald Trump has chastised black NFL players who protest during the national anthem while also calling for them to be fired, and many Latin-American families fear what may happen if the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is not saved by Congress, DeLoach said a group made to support women of color is especially important.

"It's more of an exhausting environment for women of color," DeLoach said.

Moreland, who is native to Iowa, said, "There are things that just happen every day simply because of the color of my skin. For me, having gone through that my entire life, it doesn’t bother me as much as other women."

"Having that Sankofa community and awareness of what other women are feeling ... it's just nice to know that other women go through what you're going through, too."

No matter the political atmosphere, DeLoach sees Sankofa as a group that will continue to grow and evolve through 2018 and beyond.

Sankofa will hold one of its biggest events March 30 at Old Brick: the Brighter Future Focus Conference. There, the group will present a report card for the lives of women of color in the Johnson County area. DeLoach plans to unveil statistics gathered to show the differences and disparities between the livelihoods of women of color and others in the county.

She also hopes to kick off the Village of Hope Program, which would provide anyone who has to deal with different systems — school district meetings, legal appointments, interactions with the Department of Human Services — with an experienced advocate to help them prepare or go through meetings with them.

Perhaps the biggest goal is to hire an executive director, even if it's part-time. A bulk of the women at the heart of Sankofa are married, mothers and have full-time jobs, meaning that plotting out the plans of the group can take time out of their already busy schedules.

Patterson doesn't mind. In fact, she has started another group, Phenomenal Women of Excellence, that serves as a place where professional women can meet and discuss the issues they face and help foster even more connections.

No matter what Sankofa's future is, DeLoach is glad to know the group has already lasted this long and has made a difference in the lives of women she knows and loves.

“When I hear people tell me what the organization is doing for them, and it’s lining up with the intent, those are the moments that hit me. I had a friend who just moved out of the area for a new job say Sankofa was there when she needed it most," DeLoach said.

“The fact that it’s still standing is enough."

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen.com or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.